OGME Corner

Donald B. Kaveny and Susan L. Rall

Resident Evaluation and Standards Committee Met August 28 and 29

The Resident Evaluation and Standards Committee (RESC) met on August 28 & 29 to review Resident Annual Reports and accredited programs for continuing approval and program completion. Almost 700 Resident Annual Reports were reviewed at that meeting along with about 14 program actions.

Resident annual report approval letters and program completion letters will be sent to residents in mid-September. The American Osteopathic Board of Surgery (AOBS) will accept the program’s verification that a resident has completed the training in order to apply for certification by the resident. Residents are urged to not contact the ACOS for your “program complete” letter. The AOBS will be notified of residents’ completion of their programs at the same time that the individual receives his/her letter.

AOA Program Accreditation during Transition to the Single Accreditation System

The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) distributed a “COPT Alert and Update” on Friday, August 28, 2015 to all programs and directors of medical education regarding program accreditation and the transition of AOA programs to Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accreditation, the single accreditation pathway.

On July 16, 2015 the AOA Board of Trustees passed the following resolution:

Section X: AOA Program Accreditation During Transition to Single Accreditation System

10.1 Revisions to Specialty Basic Standards  
The specialty college must provide documentation to Council of Postdoctoral Training (COPT) validating a need for the revisions to their specialty basic standards.  

10.2 New Program Approvals
New AOA program applications after July 1, 2015 will require evidence of a documented plan for transition to ACGME accreditation.

10.3 Increase Approvals  
a. Applications for program increases will require evidence that the program is in a Medicare cap building period or provide other valid rationale to warrant the increase in size.
b. Applications for program increase after July 1, 2015 will require evidence of a documented plan for transition to ACGME accreditation.  

10.4 ACGME Accreditation Correspondence
a. The ACGME accreditation status of AOA OPTIs, institutions, or programs (pre-accreditation, continued pre-accreditation, initial accreditation contingent, initial accreditation, etc) is considered a substantive change (Standard A.5.2).  
b. AOA-approved programs, institutions, and OPTI are required to forward all correspondence (including ACGME Letters of Notification) regarding their ACGME 23 accreditation status to their OPTI, the AOA, and the specialty college within 30 days of receipt.  
c. Failure to comply with this policy will be reported to the Program and Trainee Review Council (PTRC) and Council on Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Institutions (COPTI) and may result in probation or closure.

10.5 AOA Program Actions
Per the current PTRC Handbook, the PTRC has the ability to place a program on probation with or without the ability to recruit based on recommendation of the SPEC provided there are critical deficiencies that affect the quality of the program.
a. AOA programs that do not apply for ACGME accreditation cannot accept new trainees after July 1 of the year in which the resident can complete their training by June 30, 2020.

10.6 Continued Pre-Accreditation Status
AOA programs that have continued pre-accreditation status for 2 full years and have trainees that cannot complete their training by June 30, 2020 must work with their OPTI and sponsoring institution to develop and submit a plan FOR THE POTENTIAL transfer all trainees to an ACGME accredited program. The plan will be reviewed by the SPEC and PTRC for approval. This does not negate continued application for ACGME initial accreditation.  

10.7 ACGME Application Process  
Any AOA accredited programs that have not submitted an application for ACGME  accreditation by July 1, 2016 must notify their sponsoring OPTI, the AOA, the specialty college, its residents, and all trainee applicants, AND may not accept any new trainees that cannot be program complete by June 30, 2020.  

10.8 EXEMPTIONS
PTRC has the ability to approve exemptions to section x policies on a case-by-case basis

Standard 10.5a focuses on when a training program cannot accept new trainees:  
AOA programs that do not apply for ACGME accreditation cannot accept new trainees after July 1st of the year in which the resident can complete their training by June 30, 2020.  

A surgery program could accept new residents on July 1, 2016 as long as it has applied for ACGME accreditation by June 30, 2016. The surgical program would be in violation of the policy if it accepted new trainees on July 1, 2016 without having applied to the ACGME for accreditation or been granted an exemption by PTRC.

Surgical Educators Seminar/ACGME Accreditation

The Surgical Educators Seminar for ACOS program directors, DMEs, faculty, and program coordinators will be Tuesday, October 6th from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in conjunction with the Annual Clinical Assembly (ACA) in Chicago, IL at the Chicago Marriott Miracle Mile, October 4 – 7, 2015.

The session will begin with a panel of ACOS program directors who have submitted their applications for ACGME accreditation, a few of which who have already received their ACGME accreditation site visit. These program directors will relate their experience including any challenges met during the application and site visit process. Session participants will have an opportunity to ask questions of the panelists.
    
The panel discussion will be followed by the presentation from the ACGME. Dr. John Potts, ACGME Vice President for Surgical Programs will give an overview of the ACGME. His presentation will be followed by discussions for each discipline from the executive directors (ED) of the ACGME Review Committees (RCs) including: Pamela Derstine, PhD, MHPE (colon and rectal surgery, neurological surgery, orthopedic surgery, and otolaryngology), Donna Lamb, MBA, BSN (plastic surgery, surgery, and thoracic surgery), and Mary Joyce Turner, RHIA, MJ (obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, and urology, and the Council of RC Chairs). Program participants will have an opportunity to meet with the appropriate ED one-on-one. The EDs will relate how their review committees operate, reinforce their commitment as how they are there to assist the osteopathic programs in the ACGME accreditation process.

Registration fees for DMEs are the same as for program directors, $325, while the registration fee for program coordinators is $150. Members can register for the ACA and the Surgical Educators Seminar on-line at www.facos.org/aca. Registration forms have been sent to coordinators and M.D. program directors for submission. For information about hotel and travel information please visit the ACA travel page. If you have any questions or need additional information, don’t hesitate to contact Susan Rall or Don Kaveny.

Nominations for 2015 – 2016 Resident Section Governing Council

Residents who would like to become more involved in the ACOS and the Resident Section should consider serving on the 2015-2016 Governing Council. Elected positions include Chair (Chair Elect), Secretary/Treasurer, and one Member-at-Large. To serve on the council, you must be in a resident program and be a resident member of the ACOS during your year of service.   Current officers of the Residents Section Governing Council are:  Chair, Matt Schultzel, D.O. – PCOM; Chair-elect, Sean Henderson, D.O. – Albert Einstein; Secretary/Treasurer, Nick Madden, D.O. – PCOM; Member-at-Large, Omid Hariri, D.O. – Arrowhead; and Member-at-Large/Resident Member RESC, Lee Sandquist, D.O. – St. John Providence. In addition to contributing to the governance of the ACOS Resident Section, the Council Members receive a small stipend to attend the ACA and participate in the Annual Resident Section Business Meeting.

The Nominating Committee of the Residents Section Governing Council will finalize a slate of nominees in September 2015 for election on October 4 at the ACA in Chicago, IL. If you are interested in serving on the council, send an e-mail expressing your interest and an endorsement from your program director to Don Kaveny, Susan Rall or one of the following Nominating Committee members by September 15th to:

Nick Madden, D.O. – 2014-2015 Secretary/Treasurer
PCOM (GS, OGME-4)
e-mail: [email protected]

Omid Hariri, D.O – 2014-2015 Member-at-Large
Arrowhead (NS, OGME-5)
e-mail: [email protected]

Lee Sandquist, D.O – 2014-2015 Member-at-Large/Resident Mbr RESC
St. John Providence (NS, Program Complete)
e-mail: [email protected]

Elections will be held at the Residents Section Annual Business Meeting scheduled during the Annual Clinical Assembly in Chicago on Sunday, October 4th, 2015 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. If nominated, you are encouraged to attend the meeting. Sean Henderson, Chair-elect will assume the duties of Chair following the Resident Section Business Meeting at the ACA. The new appointed Member-at-Large will also assume duties as Resident Member of the RESC after the ACA.

To learn more about the Residents Section and the Residents Section Governing Council, visit the ACOS website at http://www.facos.org/residents or contact Don Kaveny or Susan Rall at the ACOS.

OpLog Data Migration

A program requirement, according to ACOS Accreditation Standards, is that “all residents must enter their operative experience concurrently during each year of the residency in the ACGME/ACOS case log system.”

There are over 100 AOA/ACOS accredited programs utilizing the OpLog system. All of these AOA accredited programs have the potential to apply for ACGME accreditation beginning on July 1, 2015. Upon receipt of an application from an existing AOA/ACOS surgical residency training program, that program will be awarded ACGME pre-accreditation status. Presently, seven (7) ACOS programs have been awarded ACGME pre-accreditation status and some have even had their initial site inspection. Program coordinators/case log administrators of programs awarded pre-accreditation status will have to verify the names of residents in their program to ensure that all their residents are in the new ACGME Accreditation Data System (ADS). Upon verification, the case log data (OpLog) for each resident will be migrated from the old system into the current ACGME ADS system framework which utilizes an updated version of the case log system. After the migration is complete, residents and program coordinators will no longer have access to the old OpLog system/data.
 
Data for past residents (no longer in the program) will not be moved into the ACGME ADS. To this end, the programs will be encouraged to get whatever data is needed from the old site before their access to the OpLog System is terminated. All access to the OpLog System will be cease on June 30, 2020.

Instructions and guidelines for program coordinators/case log administrators will be provided upon the awarding of ACGME pre-accreditation status to the program.  The ACGME case log management system and ADS personnel will be available to assist program coordinators/case log administrators during this migration process.

Questions regarding the OpLog System to should be directed to Susan Rall, ACOS Staff.